The Terminator movie franchise is notable for its creation of one of the earliest tough female action-hero characters: Sarah Connor, mother of John Connor. In the later movies, her son becomes the leader of the resistance to Skynet, the computer system that launched the war against humans, but in the first two she plays a crucial role. In a sense, she’s a Mary figure, the mother of the savior, but rather than cast a vulnerable softie, James Cameron cast Linda Hamilton, tough girl. Who can forget her biceps, or her famous chin-up scene? So I went to see Terminator: Salvation hoping to find more of the same gender complexity. Instead, this movie, directed by McG is as conventional as can be. McG is hardly known for his auteur subtlety. But he did direct Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and theoretically should have a feel for the female action in this film.

Not so here. Instead, John Connor (played by a very buff Christian Bale) flexes his way grimly through the film, pausing every now and then to kiss his very pregnant wife, Kate. She gets to ask questions and make a few comments about the evilness of the new hybrid terminator Skynet created. And to be sure there are a few good action scenes with Moon Bloodgood: We watch a daring pilot crash after a battle with the machines; she ejects and pulls off her helmet to reveal a sexy mane of hair. But this is quickly followed by her getting her ass kicked by some would-be rapists; she’s saved by a brawny male whom she then cuddles up to by the fire, saying “I’m cold.” Yuck. I want Sarah Connor back.

Tags: Christian Bale, James Cameron, John Connor, Linda Hamilton, McG, Sarah Connor, Terminator

In an effort to answer why so many "lady lawyers, doctors, and MBAs" at their class reunions "were still slaving after forty," authors Elizabeth Ford and Daniela Drake (a lady doctor, herself) have explored "why do bimbos fare better than the smart chicks" in their new sociological study from Perseus publishing: Smart Girls Marry Money. Sadly, the pink-covered book is not a comic novel by Anita Loos but a "hard hitting indictment on society" doubling as a how-to manual for enterprising gold diggers. While the book is intended for the audience of "young supple beauties squandering their hotness," there is good news for single women whose "sell date is long overdue": Women over 40 "may still avoid working until you drop dead."

Perseus' calculating assessment of its bimbo market (the publisher's titles include the madly successful Skinny Bitch—"a tart-tongued, no-holds-barred wakeup call to all women who want to be thin"—which spawned at least three sequels) suggests that sure bets are cute terms (fluffer wife, feminasties, and fugly are well-used in the text), dire warnings ("if you marry a man with potential, when he finally achieves, he often leaves"), and tips for trollops ("If all else fails, you can always go for the short guy. He's funny and sweet and if he earns, he's worth a second look").

Here's a tip of my own: Nothing against diamonds, but except in one of my favorite old songs (T-Bone Burnett version here), they do not make true friends.

Tags: daniela drake, elizabeth ford, marrying money, perseus, skinny bitch, smart girls marry money

Every day the media attention paid President Obama’s Supreme Court shortlist gets a little more bogged down in reviving cheesy literary archetypes. Articles like this one unerringly paint Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the tempestuous “Fiery Latina” to Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s tender “Den Mother” and then contrast both to Diane Wood’s brainy “Bench Balancer.” Why do these three types seem so eerily familiar? Hmm. Might it be because “Feisty Gal” “Soothing Peacekeeper,” and “Brainy Bookworm” are pretty much the three heroines of every airport book ever penned? They’re the three clichéd pillars of women’s fiction. Oh my God. They’re Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina!

Tags: feminism; cliches; supreme court shortlisters

I’ve been mulling the responses I got, via e-mail and comments, to my question about why a recent Gallup poll might show a seven-point jump in the percentage of people who define themselves as pro-life (from 44 percent last year to 51 percent this year). Several theories from readers:

The Election

I think this past year forced me to think about how I really felt. The election has something to do with it ... Obama’s mother also set me on a course of reflection. As an intelligent, curious single mom who struggled to give her son the best, I could relate.

I really want to be liberal, but in my life the most tangible support as a poor, single mother came from people who looked, acted, and talked just like Sarah Palin. Other high-status women didn’t give me chances; they were the first to complain when I needed time off for a sick child. Academics can write about women’s issues but the evangelicals made sure I could afford to go to work. In contrast, my university still doesn’t offer onsite child-care.

The Aging Population

Perhaps when folks pass the age at which their daughters may be faced with this decision, they can more easily be moved to a tenuous pro-life position when asked by a pollster. I suspect that the opinions on this subject may be broad, but very, very shallow.

Having a Baby

When I went with a friend who had a scan at eight weeks and could see the baby and hear his heartbeat—technology that wasn’t available to those of us who have been pro-choice since the ‘70s—then it all changed.

Scientific Advances

From Commenter LadyP: after having fertility issues and finally having children, I have changed my views in terms of late-term abortions. I think that science and the amount we know about fetal development has altered my viewpoint.

Changing Definitions

My impression from the occasional college paper I receive on this topic is that at least some young women are calling themselves pro-life and supporting that label with pro-choice positions. Basically, they argue that they're pro-life in a sort of nuanced way that is indistinguishable from being pro-choice. They don't actually want abortion to be illegal, they just don't want it to be taken lightly.

Taking a look at the Gallup poll, that's actually what it shows. Fifty-one percent call themselves "pro-life" but 78 percent want abortion to be legal in some circumstances. The whole debate is about those circumstances, but Gallup doesn't ask about that. It's like asking who's in favor of "thou shalt not kill" without asking about the death penalty, war, hunting, or abortion.

Tags: polls, pro-choice, pro-life

On Wednesday, Hanna asked "Is it normal to be transgender?" On Thursday, Adam Reilly at the Boston Phoenix asked whether being transgender is newsworthy. Reilly analyzes the coverage of Aiden Quinn, the 24-year-old subway driver who crashed a Boston train earlier this month, injuring 50, moments after texting his girlfriend. And hey, by the way, he used to be a woman. Reilly writes:

Given Quinn's admission that he was, in fact, texting prior to the accident, there's a general consensus that he's a dumbass. But there's no such agreement among the Boston media as to whether his switch from identifying as a woman to a man was germane to the larger story.

According to Reilly's story, WFXT-TV and the Boston Herald played up Quinn's sex change. New England Cable News dropped the detail late in its story. And some Boston Globe pieces didn't even mention it. As Globe Metro Editor Brian McGrory told Reilly: "It's certainly a provocative part of his personal history, but the question we asked was, ‘Was it relevant to the crash itself?' And we couldn't determine that it was."

In the spirit of letting the American Psychiatric Association's DSM, the Bible of psychiatry, define what's "normal," it's interesting to turn to another definitive book—the New York Times style guide—for its take on gender identity. Here's how the old Gray Lady handled it. Reporting on Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick's plan, in response to the crash, to ban bus and train operators from having cell phones with them while on duty, the Times never mentions Quinn's sex change. Apparently it considers that fact irrelevant. And the paper does call him Mr.

Of course, the kind of restraint shown by the Times and the Globe, while good for journalism, might be less good for humor. Excessive mentions of gender or sexual identity in a news story makes for some classic, great parody.

Tags: aiden quinn, boston, cell phone ban, deval patrick, mbta, sex change, transgender